The present invention relates to smoke exhauster, and more particularly to a guard device which covers the front panel of a smoke exhauster for protecting the switch buttons of the panel from contamination with oil and grime.
Typically, smoke exhausters have an enclosure, a hood plate including a pair of apertures formed in the center for receiving the suction fans which are secured under the enclosure of the exhauster and a panel at the front portion of the enclosure on which a plurality of switch buttons which are arranged to switch on and off the suction fans to exhaust smoke out of a kitchen via a vent on the top of the exhauster.
Normally, the smoke exhauster is located over a stove or cooking range in a kitchen, and has a releasable structure so that both the fan housings and the hood plate are easily and quickly assembled or disassembled in order to facilitate frequent cleaning the accumulated oil and grime. However, the oil and grime on the front panel are difficult to remove because the switch buttons, especially the touch-to-run type, are sensitive to the detergent cleaners which etchs the surface of the button and infiltrates into the clearances therebetween that may mar the electronics in the panel. Thus, layers of oil and grime builds up on the panel as the time goes by and the switch buttons may become inactive if there is no corrective measure that has been taken to rectify this shortcoming.